Pecan Pie.

Is it Thanksgiving this week? I think it must be. And I've got to say I'm quite sad that we don't have it over here. In mean, obvs not the whole 'make a sparkly holiday out of pretending that us European folk didn't skip on over across the sea to wipe out a whole sophisticated population' sort of thing, that seems kind of weird and mean....but a whole holiday, just in time to kick off Christmas, all about being grateful...that seems like a good idea to me

And from my very outsider perspective it seems that it kind of takes the pressure of Christmas a bit too, because it's 'The Holidays', whole long weeks of fun...rather than getting all in a faff because everything has to be perfect on the one day that counts. And given that you, little sis, are a full on American resident these days, you are gonna need a pie...another reason we should get Thanksgiving, it's a pie festival... you can't turn up anywhere without a pie this week, I'm pretty sure it's US a law. So better get baking. With Love and Cake

. 

Pecan Pie

Recipe from The Essential Dessert Cookbook

A few notes:

• You could use any tart case you like really, even *faux gasp* a shop bought one.
• If you have any spare pastry and want to prettify you could cut some pretty shapes, stars or hearts, and lay them on top of the pecan layer before you bake.
• As usual, I've made my pasty in my food processor but, as ever, you can definitely make it by hand if that's what works for you. Just rub in the butter with your finger tips and bring the dough together by hand.

Serves 6

You will need

1 x 23cm tart tin

For the pastry

185g plain flour

125g butter

2-3 tbsp cold water

For the filling

200g pecans

3 eggs

50g butter, melted

140g soft brown sugar

170ml golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

• First lets make the pastry. Pulse the flour in a food processor (or sift into a bowl) then add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
• Add 2 tbsp of cold water and pulse until a soft dough forms, adding 1 more spoonful of water if necessary.
• Remove the dough from the processor roll the pastry out thinly onto a floured surface. 
• Line your prepared tin with the pastry, and gently prick the base with a fork. Cut off the excess and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180°c.
• Blind bake the pastry case; line it with a scrunched up piece of baking paper and fill with baking beads, or uncooked rice or dried beans (save them to continue to use for the same purpose, just don't cook them to eat), then place the pie tin in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the edges have started to colour.
• Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 15 minutes.
• Remove the pastry from the oven, set aside to cool.
• Make the filling by spreading the pecans over the pastry base.
• In a measuring jug whisk together the eggs, melted butter, sugar, golden syrup, vanilla and salt and then pour over the notes.
• Bake the pie for around 45 minutes or until firm. Serve at room temperature.

Hearty Tart.

This isn't officially called Hearty Tart...it's just the title of the article that I got the recipe from and I've been calling it that in my head ever since I've been meaning to make it. Apparently it's really called 'North Country Tart' which is a ruuuuubbish name is you ask me...it sounds a bit north-racist and I'm pretty sure the people who invented the Bakewell would contest the fact that this is the one and only north country tart. So yes, I renamed it. 

Not that it's actually very hearty...I think of 'hearty' as meaning a bit stodge and stick to your ribs, which while great in its place, is not the right description here...this tart is actually a tad more elegant than that thank you very much. 

But not too elegant don't worry, I mean, there's jam and coconut for goodness sake...very much a kids party kind of vibe...in the best of way of course.

Also....it's actually a bit of a doddle to put together; as long as you've got your pastry situation down then you're covered, there's not even any blind baking. Plus, I don't think you even have to be a tart to make it. With Love and Cake.

Hearty Tart.

recipe adapted from delicious. magazine

A few notes:

• Apparently the original type of jam used here is raspberry, but I like strawberry better so that's what I used, like the rebel that I am....not...but you use whatever you fancy...I think blueberry might be really yummers with the coconut.
• Having coconut in the pastry is extra lovely if you're a fan, but if you have a tried and tested pastry recipe that you love do feel free to use that instead.
• Yep...pastry = food processor but, as ever, you can definitely make it by hand if that's what works for you. Just rub in the butter with your finger tips and bring the dough together by hand.

Serves 8

You will need

1 x 20cm tart tin, greased

For the pastry

150g plain flour

75g butter

30g desiccated coconut

1 1/2 tbsp icing sugar

1 egg yolk (save the white for the filling)

For the filling

100g butter 

50g caster sugar

50g golden syrup

175g desiccated coconut

25g ground almonds

1 egg

about 1/2 jar strawberry jam

• First things first let's make the pastry. Chuck the flour and butter into your food processor and whixx to the texture of breadcrumbs. 
• Add the coconut and icing sugar and pulse to combine.
• Whisk the egg yolk with 2 tbsp of water and add about half the mixture to the food processor. Pulse and add enough of the rest of the yolk to allow the mixture to start to clump together into a smooth dough.
• Form the dough into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for about half an hour.
• Roll the pastry out to a size big enough to line your tart tin with a fairly big overhang.
• Line the tart tin, leaving the overhang as it is, and prick the base all over with a fork. Set the tart tin on a baking sheet and pop in the fridge while you get on with the filling.
• Preheat the oven to 180˚c.
• Put the butter, caster sugar and golden syrup in a saucepan and heat gently so the butter melts and sugar dissolves.
• Stir in the coconut, egg, left over egg white and set aside to cool.
• Spread the jam over the bottom of the pastry case and top that with the coconut filling.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is bronze and firm.
• Leave until cool enough to handle before trimming the excess pastry off and turning out of the tin.

Chocolate Truffle and Strawberry Pie.

I went Pick Your Own-ing last week. On maybe the rainiest day of July. It's a gooood job those strawbs grow undercover or I think you'd have to front crawl down the lanes of plants. My plan was jam, stash some in the freezer for smoothies, and this beast of a pie.

I'm always fairly conservative when I'm PYO-ing...I always think it seems like you've got SO MANY berries in your basket and that it might be really embarrassing when you get to the til and they're like 'that's £50bajillion pounds please' and then you take them home and they spontaneously combust into a pile of mould in under half an hour.

But then what always happens in real life is that they say 'that'll be 53 pence please' and I'm all 'uuuurrrm are your sure' and then I get home and think, yep, could easily have handled double the amount, dammit. MUST remember that for next year....

What I must also remember is that things that are best chilled before eating are also best chilled before photographing. You see I got ahead of myself and photied this luscious lady of a pie before she'd had her chill time and it means you don't get a good enough sense of the chocolate velvetyness that's shining beneath all that cream and fruit. You'll have to take my work for it though....my word is MAKE THIS PIE. With Love and Cake. 

Chocolate Truffle and Strawberry Pie.

Adapted from a Bakers Royale recipe

A few notes:

• Eat ASAP...I mean, why wouldn't you.
• You could just throw a lovely layer of fresh strawbs on top rather than cooking them up...I did both.

Serves 8

You will need

1 x 18cm tart tin or pie dish

For the pastry

175g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

50g icing sugar

100g butter, cold from the fridge, cubed

1 egg yolk

2-3 tbsp cold water

For the chocolate filling

170g dark chocolate

1 tbsp butter

225g cream cheese, at room temperature

30g icing sugar

For the top

250ml double cream, lightly whipped

350g strawberries, halved or quartered

75g icing sugar 

2 tsp cornflour 

• First we must make the pastry. Pulse together the flour, cocoa and sugar in a food processor (or sift into a bowl).
• Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs (or rub in with your finger tips).
• Add the yolk and 2tbsp of cold water and pulse until a soft dough forms, adding more water if necessary.
• Remove the dough from the processor and gently form into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for around 15 minutes.
• Next, roll the pastry out to about the thickness of a pound coin on a floured surface. I used the cling film it was wrapped in to cover the pastry as I rolled, to stop the rolling pin sticking, which worked well.
• Line your prepared tin with the pastry without trimming the edges, just let the excess overhang. Gently prick the base with a fork and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200°c.
• Blind bake the pastry case by lining it with a scrunched up piece of baking paper and filling with baking beans, or uncooked rice or dried beans (save them to continue to use for the same purpose, just don't cook them to eat).
• Place the tart tin on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 10 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool and crisp up while you get on with the filling.
• Melt the chocolate and butter gently in a saucepan.
• Stir in the cream cheese until well combined and then remove from the heat.
• Beat in the icing sugar.
• To get the pastry prepared, gently slice off the excess before pouring in the chocolate filling.
• Leave to cool while you get on with the strawbs.
• Combine the strawberries with the icing sugar and let them stand for about half an hour.
• Then drain the liquid off, saving the lovely ruby juice.
• Pop the juice into a little saucepan and add the cornflour.
• Heat the juice gently to a bubble so that it thickens and becomes syrupy, then remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.
• Mix the cold syrup back into the strawberries.
• Now you're ready for the final assembly...spread the whipped cream over the chocolate layer and tumble over the strawberries. 
• Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour before turning out of the tin and serving. 

Chocolate and Pecan Puffs.

These are the result of a little Twitter chat I had with a school friend who, until recently, I hadn't conversed with for YEARS (how can there be THIS many years between me and school....are you suuuuure I'm 25?).

He told me he and his lady friend had just eaten the most amaaazing pecan and chocolate puff and I must make it immediately. No picture, no description, just chocolate and pecan puff.

I love such cakey chat because it's a twist to how I usually approach this whole bakey thing. Usually I look at a recipe and it looks yummy so I make it, or I want a cheesecake, so I look up cheesecake recipes and twiddle with them until I have one that suits, or I have some really nice something that would go great in a something so I make it.

But this way it's sort of a puzzle. And everyone loves puzzles. There's no better game than squishing pastry and chocolate and nuts together and seeing what you can come up with. Come to think of it, maybe you should ignore my recipe and squish them together in your own way...it's fun. My recipe is reeeeeally good though, so either way. With Love and Cake.

Chocolate and Pecan Puffs.

A few notes:

• These are the sort of things that could happily be tinkered with in accordance with what you fancy or what you have in your cupboards...maybe no chocolate but lots of cinnamon, maybe no nuts, maybe different nuts....
• You could of course use your own homemade puff pastry. They might not be quiiiite as light and puffy, but your sense of pride might be.

Makes about 10

You will need

1 x baking sheet, well greased

150g pecans

175g butter, softened

100g soft brown sugar

pinch salt

500g block puff pastry

100g dark chocolate, chopped

• Preheat that oven of yours to 180°c.
• Lay out your pecans on the baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes, until bronze and smelling yummmmy.
• When they're cool enough to handle, give the nuts a rough chop.
• Mix the butter, sugar and salt together to a smooth paste.
• Roll out the pastry on a clean floured surface to a large rectangle; about 30 x 50cm.
• Spread the butter mixture over the pastry, leaving a 1cm border.
• Sprinkle over the pecans and chocolate, saving back about a tablespoons worth of each for sprinkling later.
• Now roll up the pastry like a Swiss roll from one of the longer sides.
• Cut into 3cm-ish slices and lay each one flat on your baking tray with a few cm gap between each one to allow for them to expand. 
• Sprinkle a bit of the reserved chocolate and nuts over each slice
• Bake for 40 minutes, by which point they should be golden and crispy.
• A fair amount of buttery goodness may have leaked out and be sloshing around the pan. I just scooped it up with a spoon and gave everything a good baste.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Mincemeat Ravioli: The Gin Lover's Mince Pie.

Have you made mince pies yet? Do you keep meaning to but don’t quite get round to it? Do you love the idea of having a constantly restocked pile to greet you when you arrive home but can’t quite be bothered because you keep going out for cocktails and gin always wins? Do you not intend to ever because, HELLO, you can buy them from M&S and the oven is where you store your shoes?

Well if the latter is true, then I don’t think you’re in the market to have your mind changed, and apparently M&S mince pies are in fact very lovely, so go ahead and keep being fabulous and ‘flour in your hair’-free. But if you’re in the other camps, and you just need to carve out that extra half an hour or don’t have the right shaped tin...then YeY, here comes Delia to our rescue.

These are genius; puffy, caramelised, mincemeat filled mouthfuls that you can literal have done, from start to finish, in 30 minutes. I remember making them several years in a row when I was pretty young, probably before I’d ever made a real mince pie, when all I had in my cookbook collection was Delia’s How to Cook Part 1, in which these delights feature. As with all the best recipes, its page is very messy.

Buy in the pastry and mincemeat...honestly, absolutely no one will care, and you can tick ‘make mince pies’ off you list without even breaking a sweat and still having time for gin. With Love and Cake.

(WHY yes, that IS a Christmas tree on my plate.)

Mincemeat Ravioli.

From Delia's How to Cook Part 1

A few notes:

• Make sure to check that your mincemeat is vegetarian, if you care about such things.
• If you have a bit more time, maybe you'd like to make your own pastry. Find the recipe HERE.
• These are so easypeasy that it would be no bother at all to double the recipe or make tweaks here and there. How about a crunchy dusting of demerara sugar before baking, or the addition of a few crumbles chestnuts to the filling?

Makes 15-20

You will need

a large baking sheet, greased

1x320g packet ready rolled puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 medium jar mincemeat

icing sugar for dusting

• First things first, preheat the oven to 200°c.
• Spread out your pastry on a clean and lightly floured surface and roll it out so it is just a bit thinner than in arrives out of the packet.
• Then you want to cut it almost in half, but not quite. Basically you want 2 rectangles, with one just slightly bigger than the other; aim for one being about 30x25cm and the other being 32x 28 cm.
• Now brush the smaller rectangle all over with egg.
• Spoon teaspoonfuls of mincemeat evenly along one edge of the smaller rectangle, leaving a border of about 1 cm between each spoonful and between the edge of the pastry. 
• Continue row after row of mincemeat, evenly across the pastry.
• Lay the larger rectangle of pastry, gently over the top of the mincemeat.
• Press down the pastry to seal each parcel of mincemeat and brush the top with more egg.
• Cut along each gap to separate the parcels from each other; you can use a fluted pastry wheel for this if you want a frilly edge.
• Transfer each parcel to your prepared baking sheet and if you're worried that the edges might not be sealed enough, press down around the outsides with a fork.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden. Don't worry about any mincemeat leakages, just make sure you remove the parcels to a wire rack before the sugar in the mincemeat cools and sticks to the baking tray.
• You could either just sprinkle with lots of icing sugar and serve as they are, or when they have cooled and you're ready to serve, you could transfer them back to a backing tray, sprinkle liberally with icing sugar and stick under a hot grill for a few moments. The sugar with caramelise and turn golden. Sprinkle with more icing sugar and serve.
• Merrrrrry Christmas.

My First Pumpkin Pie.

I’ve neverever done the Thanksgiving thing before; the most involved I’ve ever felt is watching that geeeenius episode of Friends with Brad Pitt and the yams and the story Ross kissing the lady with the stick. But St Andrews (my nearby little town) is rather full of Americans (mostly girls, on the hunt for princes) and you sort of pick up on wafts of excitement...which is why I am aware that it is Thanksgiving this very Thursday.

As well as never having done Thanksgiving, I have also never tried pumpkin pie...I KNOW, craaazyness. I love pumpkin. I love pie. How could it have remained absent from my repertoire for so long. Well I guess the truth is that I kiiiiiind of assumed it wouldn’t actually be very nice. You see I tend to not love things with not much more to offer than a silky texture, like trifle or custard tart, and I guess I thought pumpkin pie fell into that category.

But hurrah...I am pleased to say that while the pie is pretty silky smooth, the spicyness and crumbly pastry mean that I was wrong and that pumpkin pie is tasty indeed....and soso silky that it is actually one of my favourite things about it. Furthermore it’s very easy to pull together, especially if you use shop-bought pastry and canned pumpkin puree (if you can get it).

I do apologise for the slightly wonky look of the pie however...rather shamefully, the reason for the imperfection in the looks departments is that I was going to buy a pie dish, but then I bought shoes, so could no longer justify the purchase...woops....and had to make do with a cake tin. I will, however, verify that I made the correct decision...the pie worked great and I LOVE my shoes. Winwin. With Love and Cake.

Pumpkin Pie.

Recipe from marthastewart.com

A few notes:

• I had to adjust the recipe slightly due to my new shoes and subsequent lack of pie tin but I will write it as it appears originally because, well, it's Martha Stewart, you can't go wrong.
• If you have to adjust too though....left over pastry freezes fine. As for left over filling...mmmm leave it with me, I'm still working on a solution. Updated 23/11/12: I mixed mine with self-raising flour; enough to make a very stiff dough, a fried into thick pancakes...delish.
• Find my 'recipe' for pumpkin puree here.
• As usual I made the pastry in a food processor, it just seems so much more accessible to me that way, but if the opposite is the case for you just use your finger tips to rub in the butter and to bring the dough together.

Serves at least 8

You will need

a 23cm pie tin or dish, greased

For the pastry

320g plain flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

225g butter, fridge cold

3-4 tbsp water

For the filling

420g pumpkin puree

165g soft brown sugar

1 tbsp cornflour

pinch salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp ground ginger

pinch ground cloves

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

335g evaporated milk

• First lets make the pastry. Pulse together the flour and sugar in a food processor (or sift into a bowl).
• Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
• Add 3 tbsp of cold water and pulse until a soft dough forms, adding 1 more spoonful of water if necessary.
• Remove the dough from the processor and form gently into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
• Next, roll the pastry out thinly onto a floured surface. I used the cling film it was wrapped in to cover the pastry as I rolled, to stop the rolling pin sticking which worked well.
• Line your prepared tin with the pastry, and gently prick the base with a fork. Cut off the excess and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile preheat the oven to 190°c.
• Blind bake the pastry case; line it with a scrunched up piece of baking paper and fill with baking beads, or uncooked rice or dried beans (save them to continue to use for the same purpose, just don't cook them to eat).
• Place the pie tin in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the edges have started to colour.
• Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 15 minutes.
• Remove the pastry from the oven, set aside to cool and turn the oven down to 160°c.
• Now we make the filling...it's easy. Simply whisk all the ingredients together so you have a smooth paste.
• Pour the filling into the cooled pastry case and bake for 50-55 minutes, at which point the filling should barely wobble.
• Leave the pie to cool completely and then chill for a good few hours before tucking in (don't you just hate recipes that say that).

Profiteroles and Birthday Fireworks.

What is one to do...it’s the boys birthday tomorrow, you have last year’s EPIC offering to live up to and you have THREE CAKE FAILS all in one day. Quelle Desastre. I shall tell you what you do....you make profiteroles and pray (there is a special cake God just for cake praying yeah?).

I don’t, however, want you to think that I’m a crazy clever housewife lady whose answer to all culinary trouble is to rustle up something elllllse fancy on a whim. Oh no....if it hadn’t been a mighty important baking day, I probably would have cried, thrown something and gone to bed in a huff....my answer to most struggles I encounter.

I had in fact plllaaaanned to make profiteroles all along, they were to be the yummy pudding, no fuss or fireworks, just a casual, ‘time for profiteroles?’ at the end of dinner. But given that the cakey part, where the fireworks were meant to be directed, had let me down, I just sort of redirected the emphasis. And made it seeeeeem like I am a crazy clever housewife lady with the answer to everything, even birthday cake fails.

The motto? Mmm not sure really, maybe to always plan to make profiteroles, I mean, it doesn’t do any harm. Or maybe to not follow stupid cake recipes that look suspicious from the start...no eggs? What? Or maybe it’s just that you shouldn’t cry over uncookable cake...because really, people don’t care, as long as you give hugs and kisses and gnocchi, all will be well. With Love and Cake.

Profiteroles.

Original recipe from Delia's Complete Cookery Course.

A few notes:

• Try to make these as close to the time of serving as poss, they need about half an hour to cool before filling but after that it's sogs-ville...and no one likes a soggy profiterole.
• This is just a basic choux pastry recipe, so you basically do exactly the same to make eclairs but shape the pastry into sausages before baking.
• If you don't have a piping bag etc, simply, split the choux buns in half, fill with whipped cream with a spoon, and join the halves together again.

Makes 12-15

You will need

a greased baking sheet

For the pastry 

60g plain flour

1 tsp caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

150ml water

50g butter, cubed

For the filling

275ml double cream, softly whipped

For the chocolate sauce

225g dark chocolate

3 tbsp cream

• Preheat the oven to 200°c.
• First we need to get everything ready to make the pastry, because when it gets going, it's a speedy process. So weigh the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, then beat the eggs in a separate little bowl.
• Pop the water and butter in a saucepan and heat over a medium heat until the butter has melted and the water just starts to boil.
• As soon as this happens, take the pan off the heat, pour the flour and sugar into the pan and beatbeatbeat with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth paste that sticks together and leaves the sides of the pan clean.
• Continuing to beat, add the eggs, a bit at a time, until you have a smooth, glossy paste.
• Now, run the greased baking sheet under some cold water and shake most of it off...this means a little bit of steam is created in the oven, helping the pastry to rise.
• Arrange teaspoon-fulls of the pastry on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of room for rising between each one.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the oven up to 220°c and bake for another 15 minutes, until golden and puffy.
• Remove the choux buns to a wire rack and pierce each one with a knife or skewer to allow any soggy-making steam to escape.
• While they cool, make the chocolate sauce by melting the chocolate and cream together, either in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water or in the microwave.
• Whisk so you have a lovely silky sauce.
• Now to fill your profiteroles...pop the whipped cream in a piping bag, poke the nozzle into each choux bun and squeeze out a healthy dose of cream.
• You could pour over the chocolate sauce now or serve it alongside, either way...well done, fail averted. 

Bacon and Egg Pie.

Would you like some pie? It's Bacon and Egg? Hop on over to Flavrbox; another place that accommodates my food-based waffling, where I will tell you all about it.

Sturdy Stuffy Eccles Cakes.

When treats are required to withstand a journey with the Post Man, I mean Peeerson....you need to think sturdy; daintywainty cupcuakes will not do here. And if you’ve ever gone down this thinking road (this particular road I mean, not the ‘thinking in general’ one) then you might have reached the same conclusion as me; that sturdy food = the food of sturdy people. See...you have Cornish miners eating pasties on one side and boys in top hats getting caned, eating Eton Mess on the other.

So naturally when I received a request for a posted package of baked goods the other day my mind went to those sturdy northern folk (I had Dad in my head, obvs) and what they might take down their particular mines...or mills probs, those dark satanic ones. Eccles Cakes of coooourse.

Eccles Cakes could be nothing but northern (we’re talking northern English here folks, which is confusing because from where I’m sitting that looks kinda like downwards but heyho) with their rocky shape and bolstering sweet filling. And...I just found out that you’re meant to eat them with a wedge of cheese...and the only folk I've ever know to pair cake with cheese have been northern folk (Dad), but my goodness it makes sense doesn't it?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not shunning posh, non-sturdy food, ohnono. I’ll dunk asparagus into a soft boiled egg with as much glee as the next south-westerly gal...but that would noooot look pretty after a shove through the letter box. With Love and Cake.

Eccles Cakes.

From Delia's Complete Cookery Course.

A few notes:

• Doooooo feel free to use shop bought puff pastry...though northern people might judge you (jokes....they definitely won't).
• You can make these as big or as little as you want, these are more bite sized than the big fist sized ones you usually see. just make sure you use a cutter a LOT bigger than you want the finished cake and adjust the cooking time accordingly. I used a cutter about 12cm across which gave cakes about 6cm across and needed 15 minutes.

Makes 10-20

You will need 

A large baking sheet, greased

1xquantity or homemade flaky pastry, made using 225g plain flour and 175g butter with exactly the same method

For the filling

75g butter

150g caster sugar

150g currants

50g candied peel

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

To glaze

milk

demerara or granulated sugar

• When you've got you're pastry all ready and chilled, preheat the oven to 220°c.
• To make the fillinf simply melt the butter in a saucepan and then stir in all the other ingredients.
• Roll the pastry out thinly; to about 3mm thick, and cut out rounds with a cutter or upturned glass (see notes re size).
• Into the centre of each round, place a teaspoon of filling.
• Brush water around the outside of the round and to seal, bring one side of the circle to the centre and the opposite side to meet it. Pinch them together to.
• Keep doing this with the edges that are left, so you have a much smaller disc.
• Place each sealed disc, the other way up so the sealed side is the bottom, onto your baking sheet.
• Press each one down so it flattens and gets a bit wider.
• Make 3 slashed in the top of each disc, brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake for around 15 minutes until golden and puffy.
• Remove from the baking sheet as soon as poss so they don't stick as the sugar sets and wait a biiiit before you tuck in, so the sugar doesn't stick to your tongue. But not tooooo long. Do the cheese thing if you fancy too.

Chocolate Truffle and Blackberry Tart.

Apparently it’s National Chocolate Week at the moment.....errrr HELLO...what are you expecting to happen during the other 51 weeks of the year?? In my head it’s like that thing people do with going to church; only go at Christmas to sing pretty songs and to get married and take pretty pictures.

THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS. Okok my chocolate thing is kind of the opposite of that because I do the ‘neverever going to church thank you very much’ thing as opposed to the ‘every Sunday thank you very much’ thing....but what I meeeeean is, if you aaaare one of the those ‘every Sunday’ people, I think maybe you get annoyed at people who swan in once a year just because, and you’re like “ow you’re here now are you....THIS IS MY RELIGION”.

Like with chocolate....it’s kind of the same yeeah?? Good chocolate and its worship is not for once a year, ohnono. Good chocolate is for all the days....ALLLL THE DAYS. There’s probably some chocolate God spending this week going ‘aaar so you’re going to celebrate me now aaaaare you’.

Right...ok, I realise this is not really true because lots of people do love and eat chocolate all the time so it’s barley the same thing and I’m very much twaddling but it’s all about balance isn't it? And eating chocolate for a week is bad but loving it all the time is good, as long as you eat spinach sometimes too and do some star jumps. So here’s a chocolate recipe for you...make it this week or next, whenever you want....just make sure you get your blackberries soon. With Love and Cake.

Chocolate Truffle and Blackberry Cake.

Original recipe by Debbie Major for Delicious magazine.

A few notes:

• The original recipe I followed uses raspberries...I think just use whatever you fancy or can get hold if depending on the seasons. I can still get Scottish rasps up hear at the mo but blackberries are at their prime.
• If you have a 25cm tart tin or shallow cake tin, do use that...that's what the recipe is designed for. I don't have one (sobsob) so had to settle for a smaller tin. It works fine and feel free to do that to, you will just have a fair bit of excess filling and pastry...not a problem in my book. Any left over truffle mix can just be poured into ramekins and left to set in the fridge as 'chocolate pots'. Leftover pastry will freeze well.

Serves 10

You will need

a 25cm loose bottomed tart tin, greased

For the pastry

175g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

50g icing sugar

100g butter, cold from the fridge, cubed

1 egg

2-3 tbsp cold water

For the filling

150ml milk

500ml double cream

65g caster sugar

300g dark chocolate, broken up into squares

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g fresh blackberries

• First we must make the pastry. Pulse together the flour, cocoa and sugar in a food processor (or sift into a bowl).
• Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs (or rub in with your finger tips).
• Separate the egg and add the yolk to the processor. Set aside the white for later.
• Add 2tbsp of cold water and pulse until a soft dough forms, adding more water if necessary.
• Remove the dough from the processor and gently form into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for around 15 minutes.
• Next, roll the pastry out thinly onto a floured surface. I used the cling film it was wrapped in to cover the pastry as I rolled, to stop the rolling pin sticking which worked well.
• Line your prepared tin with the pastry, and gently prick the base with a fork and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200°c.
• Blind bake the pastry case; line it with a scrunched up piece of baking paper and fill with baking beans, or uncooked rice or dried beans (save them to continue to use for the same purpose, just don't cook them to eat).
• Place the tart tin on a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes.
• Remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 5 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool and crisp up while you get on with the filling.
• Pour the milk, cream and sugar into a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate slowlyslowly, until it's all melted and wonderfully smooth.
• In a large bowl, whisk the egg with the left over egg white and vanilla.
• When all the chocolate has melted, pour the mixture over the eggs, and whisk together.
• Scatter the berries into the pastry case, cover with the chocolate truffle mixture and transfer carefully to the oven.
• Bake for around 30 minutes until the filling looks set while remaining a little bit wobbly in the middle.
• Leave to cool and serve at room temperature with a few more berries if you fancy.

Strawberry Pop Tarts.

Do you know...I haven’t eaten pop tarts for a good 10 years. Now I won’t dwell on how scary it is that I am now somehow old enough these days to talk about how things in terms decades. I mean, I know I’ve only really got 2 to consider and maybe someday I’ll be able to say I haven’t had a pop tart for 50 years...though let’s hope I don’t let such a foolish thing as that happen....but doing or not doing something for 10 whole years...well it kind of indicates that at some point I must have stopped being 17....and I’m not comfortable with such a fact. But anyway, I said I wouldn’t dwell....oh god I’m ooooold...STOP DWELLING.

So yes...pop tarts. I have particularly vivid memories of eating them in bed...the spare room bed for some reason, when I had a poorly day off school. It’s very white and sunny. And there’s strawberry pop tarts. Goodness me I’ve got a wandery mind today...CONCENTRATE, anyway, I don’t think I’ve eaten them since then and the other day I was ‘Edinburgh wandering’ (yes it is its own verb) and a Canadian pal of mind and I found ourselves in one of those American sweet shops....you know, where everything is brightbright pink or green and they have boxes of cereal for£8...seriously.

They also had pop tarts....even s’mores ones....for £5.50. FIVE POUNDS FIFTEY. Goodness me...they’re not even real food. So needless to say I didn’t buy any because that would have been utter crazyness. Thankfully however I am in possession of friends that don’t think spending such sums on treats is mental and that very evening, totally by coincidence, I was fed cinnamon pop tarts and ice cream.

 

Pop tarts and I were reunited and now we’re in love. Ok not in LOVE because you spend silly amounts of money on people/things you love for no other reason than that you love them and I still am not prepared to do that, so I made my own, aaaaand they’re sooooooo much more lovable than foil packaged ones that I reckon I could get away with charging £5 just for 2 and I’ll become a pop tart squillionaire. Form an orderly queue. With Love and Cake.

Strawberry Pop Tarts.

A mish mash of recipes from smittenkitchen and Bakeat350

A few notes:

• Do feel free to mix it up and try making your own fav flavour...you could go chocolatey and fill with Nutella, or maybe some cinnamon sugar for a very breakfasty feel. If I try any variations I shall of course let you know.
• You could miss out the boiling of the jam bit and use jam straight out of the jar but if you've got the spare 5 minutes I'd do it; it just gives a texture that is less likely to run and make a mess.
• I've kind of been vague about the topping so you can do want you like the look of best; I melted white chocolate with a splash of cream to drizzle on half of mine and for the rest I mixed some left over strawberry filling with a tiny splash of water, a few spoons of icing sugar and a few drops of red food colouring to make a sort of glaze.

Makes 10-12

You will need

2 baking sheets, greased and floured

For the pastry

300g plain flour

2 tbsp caster sugar

220g butter, cold from the fridge

4-6 tbsp cold water

For the filling

3tbsp strawberry jam

1/2 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp water

1 egg, beaten

For the topping (see note)

white chocolate, melted with a splash of cream

left over strawberry filling

1 tbsp icing sugar

2 tsp water

a few drops red food colouring

• First we must make the pastry. Pulse together the flour and sugar in a food processor (or sift into a bowl).
• Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs (or rub in with your finger tips).
• Add 4 tbsps of cold water and pulse until a soft dough forms, adding more water if necessary.
• Remove the dough from the processor, split into 2 halves and form each half gently into a disc. Wrap each disc in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, pop your jam in a little saucepan with the cornflour and water and boil together for a minute or 2; until the mixture is syrupy and shiny.
• Transfer the jewel coloured mix to a bowl and chill in the fridge.
• When your pastry's nice and chilled, roll the first half out thinly onto a floured surface. I used the clingfilm it was wrapped in to cover the pastry as I rolled, to stop the rolling pin sticking which worked well.
• Then cut pop tart sized rectangles out of the dough (I'd say that means around 10cmx15cm).
• Gather up the remaining edges of the pastry, roll out again and cut more rectangles. Keep going like this until all the pastry is used up.
• Lay half of the rectangles on your baking sheets and brush beaten egg around the edges.
• Spoon 1-2 tsps of the jam mix onto each rectangles and spread out leaving a border of around 5mm.
• Top each of these jammy rectangles with a plain pastry rectangle and press gently around the edges to seal the pastry together.
• Go around the edges with a fork pressing down firmly to add prettyness and to be sure the edges are properly fused together.
• Use the fork to prick a few holes in the top of each pop tart and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
• Repeat the whole process with the second half of the pastry.
• Preheat the oven to 180°c.
• Bake the pop tarts for 25-30 minutes until just starting to bronze around the edges.
• Leave to cool on a wire wrack.
• Either eat as they are or drizzle with melted white chocolate or a bit of the leftover jam diluted with icing sugar, water and red colouring (see notes).
• Breakfast like a queen...albeit not a very British one.